Palestinians are not alone in their opposition to the separation wall. The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled in 2004 that it was illegal. Israel’s own Supreme Court has said its path must be changed. For the most part, Israel has ignored these decisions. The separation wall, which is eight metres high and made of concrete and electrified barbed wire, has become an international symbol of Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. Activists from around the world – including some Israelis – have joined Palestinians to protest the separation wall. For many Palestinian villagers, protest is the only means they have to resist the wall. In Budrus, a small Palestinian village in the West Bank, the separation wall would have resulted in Palestinians losing hundreds of hectares of land and thousands of precious olive trees. When the bulldozers first arrived in Budrus in 2003, Israeli soldiers told residents they could appeal the wall’s path. But residents knew the appeals process would take at least two weeks. By that time, their homes, schools and farmland would have been destroyed. Their only option, residents decided, was to resist the wall through protest. Protesters practiced civil disobedience, climbing on top of bulldozers or placing themselves in their path. Some wrapped their arms around olive trees to prevent their destruction. Israeli soldiers cracked down with brutal force. They used tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition against the protesters. Protesters were beaten, arrested and injured. Many were killed.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 11:05:00 +0000